Whose to blame for Parros injury; bad goals, two new stud de-man

Habs vs Leafs

Montreal was the better team in the first period…. Especially the kid line; Gallagher, Eller & Galchenyuk; hands down the best top line in night one of the NHL. Lars Eller could have a breakout season.

James Reimer despite struggling in period one; was the better of the two goalies. Price at times looked lost; exactly the same way he looked last year. Reimer was ok at times; but was great late in the came to close the door on the Habs.

Now lets talk about; with what I’m sure everyone already is. The second fight between George Parros and Colton Orr; it’s more than knowledge that two years ago Orr was Ko’d by Parros. We all know it wasn’t Orr but the ice that Ko’d Parros. My bone to pick is this; who’s really to blame for the second fight occurring? That’s right PK Subban. All of a sudden with Parros in town; Subban thinks he’s the NHL’s toughest defender. Orr was going for the puck; and it was a quick whistle; but Subban even when the refs were in the middle of them; kept going at Orr. I feel sorry for Parros; cause night in night out; he  

Hawks vs Capitals

Despite winning 6-4; one obvious that came out of this game is the Hawks MUST be more aggressive on the penalty kill; Caps went 3-5 on the PP; and was dominate at it.

Braden Holtby was wonderful at times; but then he looked like a below average goalie at times as well; the game winner was horrible goal to let in.

Both teams may not be at the top of the league in fighting majors at year end; but they’ve both increased their team size this year; allot of solid, clean body contact in this game.

Oilers vs Jets

I’m not going to sugar coat it. Both of these teams, most little if no improvement on their blueline and it showed last night.

Oilers first  

No disrespect to Andrew Ference; I think he’s a great captain for a young Oilers teams. But ladies and gentleman he was at times a #6 de-man for the Bruins; and on any other team is maybe just maybe a #3; but should be a #4 de-man.

I can’t say I’ve sat down and watched Justin Schutlz very closily; but did for this game. All I can say is one dimensional. He maybe a 40-50 point blueliner, but he is clueless and I mean clueless in his own end; on the 5-4 goal for Winnipeg, I counted it, in a 10 second shift decides not to get down and block a shot; sits there watching 3 defenders within 3 feet of him without even attempting to clear one of them..

No matter what Mark Lee or Kelly Hrudey wants to think; David Perron is not a gritty forward. The former St. Louis Blue might be pesky; but to claim he is what the Oilers need for grit in their top six? If that is their thinking; that is while they’ll be a non-playoff team yet again

Jets

Truba looks like a stud; but to me, if Claude Noel knows what he’s doing; he’ll breakup Byfuglien and Enstrom and put one with Truba and the other with Boogasian. Having to puck moving offensive defenseman as one pairing, can and will lead to disaster.  Paul Postma had a rough night; showing why he’s a below average defenseman. The Jets must improve their blueline; with another stay at home reguard.

Michael Frolik to me was one of the best off season moves a team can make. A premium third liner; who is one of the best penalty killers and can be a 20 goal scorer, if the team stays healthy.

Goaltending and own zone coverage

Two of the main reasons neither the Jets nor Oilers will make the playoffs is their own zone coverage. At times it’s a fire drill gone badly; everyone converging to the front of the net not taking anyone out. The other reason is goaltending. Both Dubynk and Pavelic are not and will never become top flight goaltenders. Allot of bad goals were allowed in all 3 games; but both Dubynk and Pavelic let in horrendous goals, both at times looked like the second coming of Vesa Toskala.

Two new throwback blue-liners

It’s been many years since we’ve seen two nasty, burly defenseman come along; but it’s a refreshing change. Both Jacob Truba & Jarrett Tinordi; are throw backs to what we seen allot of in the 90’s and into the early 2000s. Truba reminds me of Scott Stevens, why Jarrett reminds me of his father Mark Tinordi. While we have some bruising blue liners, these two will be front and center for the next decade.